Size and cost of school houses; Goshen, Falls
Philadelphia
Manner of heating
From a few sources of information we gather some clews as to the size of the schoolhouse generally. The house proposed by the Goshen Meeting in 1782 was to be 27 feet square from out to out and to cost about £150.[818] The new one proposed at Falls some twelve years later was to be somewhat more pretentious being twenty-two feet by thirty and having two stories. Its cost was estimated at £200.[819] We infer from the minutes that a building was badly needed at Falls, the old roof being “very leaky and the ceiling about to fall.” In spite of this fact it does not appear that the house was erected until about 1799; the final dimensions decided upon were twenty-six feet by twenty-four, one story, and a cellar of the same dimensions.[820] It is not certain how much space was actually devoted to the use of the school room, since the building doubtless accommodated the master and his family at the same time. The schoolhouse begun in Philadelphia about 1701,[821] was to be twenty-four by sixty feet. Another one in 1744, built on the Forrest property, was to be about sixty by thirty-five feet, two stories high, with a basement underneath raised three feet above the surface of the ground.[822] The cost of the last building when completed in 1746 was £794.[823] Anthony Benezet, who apparently was teaching in an old building, made complaint in 1744 that it was “too hot in summer and too dark in winter” and therefore urged that a window be put in the south side.[824] The writer has found a single instance to indicate how the school building was heated. Judging from such meager data we would say that the first schools probably up to 1715 or 1720 were heated by the old-fashioned brick stoves. They were at any rate employed in some, but were beginning to lose their popularity in that period. One was removed in 1715 and an iron stove substituted for it.[825]
Number of children attending schools
Two classes: the “pay” and the “free” scholar
The size of the schools, measured by the number of pupils, must be judged mostly from material found relating to Philadelphia. It was doubtless true that in the country regions there were fewer children within reach of the school and it was not necessary to state limits beyond which they might not go. The yearly meeting certainly recommended that the number of children be specified, which the master was to teach, but this was often taken to mean that they should promise to teach a certain number of children for the use of the school. The schools were always composed of these two classes, the independent or pay scholar and the poor or free scholar. Some of the Philadelphia reports state the number attending, of each of these classes. In that system the teachers were required to keep a roll, especially of the poor children, and turn it over for the inspection of the overseers.[826] In country districts the school committee usually kept account of the poor scholars, seeing that they were supplied with all things necessary.[827] It may prove interesting to examine the Philadelphia system a little more fully.
Both boys and girls assisted
Everything furnished to the “free” scholar
First, let it be noted that cases of both boys and girls were investigated by the overseers, and if capable and in need of assistance, they were put under the tutorage of masters or mistresses free of any charge.[828] Not only were the children of Friends admitted, but an effort was made to find out the needy, of other denominations, and put them to school also.[829] All articles necessary were furnished free to the poor scholars by the Board, the master was required to keep an account of each item and present the bill therefor in his reports to that body.[830] The number of poor in Anthony Benezet’s school in 1743-4, about a year after he entered it, was 14.[831] There was very little fluctuation as to the number for many years; in 1749 there were 17.[832] Below are given the reports of some of the schools in 1757.[833] It seldom or never occurred that a report for all schools was made at one time.